“Throughout my professional career, I have enjoyed the inimitable beauty of tone, the consistency of key response, and the vast capability for expression and communication. In a Steinway, whether small or large in size, the intrinsic beauty is always there, reflecting the care and commitment with which it has been crafted. Consequently each Steinway has its own distinct character, its own palette of colors and dynamic capabilities, thus giving me, the performer, ever new opportunities for orchestration and re-creation, and immeasurable joy.”
Joyce Johnson
Dr. Joyce Johnson is Professor Emerita of Music and currently College Organist at Spelman College in Atlanta GA, a position she has held since 1955. She has had an active career as a college teacher, music department chair, and as a performing artist giving solo recitals, accompanying a variety of distinguished artists, playing chamber music concerts, and performing piano concertos with various symphony orchestras. In 2020, she was presented with the Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award by the American Guild of Organists. The biennial award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the AGO.
She has been heralded as “pianist extraordinaire, astounding and thrilling audiences with her consummate artistry, formidable bravura technique, great sensitivity and impeccable artistry.” Dr. Johnson has concertized in Bermuda, Haiti, the West Indies, and Brazil, performed in the Festival de Musique Baroque in Souvigny, France and in Lyon as part of a summer institute on French organ music. She has been a recitalist and workshop presenter for AGO chapters, regional conventions, music festivals, national conventions, and a number of colleges and universities. For decades she has been the organist for the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Ecumenical Service at the historic Ebenezer Church in Atlanta.
A child prodigy, Dr. Johnson's first concert was given at age eleven. While pursuing graduate degrees in piano performance at Northwestern University, her primary teachers were Gui Mombaerts and Louis Crowder. She studied organ there and at other institutions with distinguished teachers including Richard Enright, Karel Paukert, and David Craighead. After college, performance opportunities increased to include chamber music, collaborations with distinguished artists, and guest solo appearances with symphony orchestras. She made her debut with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the Atlanta premiere performance of John La Montaine’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Innumerable awards and honors received by Dr. Johnson include being designated Member Laureate of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.
Dr. Joyce Johnson is a Steinway Artist.